Britain set to move out of recession, says BCC

Yet it says there is no conclusive evidence of any robust and significant growth during the fourth quarter of last year. According to its fourth quarter economic survey published today, most of Britain’s key national indicators have improved. The progress, however, has generally been weaker than it was in the third quarter of 2009.

Although the manufacturing sector saw a boost, several key measures in both the manufacturing and service sectors remain negative. Those include home orders, employment expectations, and investment in plant and machinery.

The BCC says the service sector performed worse than manufacturing in the fourth quarter. Service balances are negative for home sales and orders, employment, cash flow, and investment in plant and machinery.

Director General David Frost says that although the results are not as impressive as hoped, they do contain some positive features. “Businesses are showing resilience despite difficult and uncertain trading conditions,” he says in a statement. “Confidence is improving, and the boost in exports must be nurtured in order to strengthen Britain’s trade position globally, and to help rebalance the economy away from an over-reliance on the public sector.”

David Kern, the chief economist, says Britain’s economy is “struggling to enter the recovery phase”.

He says that with current pressures on capacity modest, and price pressures muted, the Monetary Policy Committee can afford to maintain an expansionary stance.

Kern says this is necessary to reduce the risk of a double-dip recession. “The government must also play its part and strengthen Britain’s AAA credit rating by urgently producing a more credible medium-term plan for cutting the country’s huge budget deficit, and restraining public spending,” he says in the statement.

Premier Asset Management’s multi-asset team is investing in technology for the first time through a holding in the Henderson New Star technology fund. As a contrarian investor, Premier often sees a strong investment case for unloved, cheap and beaten-up stocks. The technol-ogy sector fits the bill because many investors have ignored it since the dotcom […]

Natixis Global Asset Management’s quarterly Portfolio Barometer offers insights into UK financial advisers’ model portfolios and the allocation decisions they are making. Natixis’s Portfolio Research & Consulting Group works with financial advisers and other intermediaries to analyse and enhance their model portfolios and help them develop investor portfolios suited to today’s complex markets. The Portfolio […]

Newsletter

Latest from Money Marketing

A group of 500 people have launched legal action against Ingenious Media saying they were misled about film investments that were later deemed to be tax avoidance by the government. According to Bloomberg, which cites court documents, employees from companies including Goldman Sachs, Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC are part of the action. British composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber is […]

Embark Services returned to profit in 2017 as it reported an increase in self-invested personal pension clients. Embark Services is a subsidiary of Embark Group that trades under the Hornbuckle and Embark brands. The business reported pre-tax profit for the year ending 31 December 2017 of £136,000 compared with a loss in 2016 of £2.4m. […]

Architas UK has seen inflows drop by just over 70 per cent in the first half of the year. The Axa-owned asset manager reported £152m net inflows for the first six months of 2018, compared with £546m in the first half of 2017. Globally, Architas’s net inflows dropped to €797m (£710.6m) in the first half […]

14th August 20182:45 pm

Comments

Leave a comment

Why register with Money Marketing ?

Providing trusted insight for professional advisers. Since 1985 Money Marketing has helped promote and analyse the financial adviser community in the UK and continues to be the trusted industry brand for independent insight and advice.